A Whole New World, Militarily-Speaking 9/17

Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov of Russia and Defense Secretary Robert Gates of the U.S. came out of an intense two-day visit as a united front against expensive and expansive militaries. The main result of their talks is the advance of the new START treaty (a.k.a. the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty), which has been approved by a Senate panel and now lies uncertainly in the hands of Senate at large (Russia's Duma has indicated it will wait to see what the Senate does with the treaty before ratifying it in turn). The treaty, and the visit, is a sign of evolution in U.S.-Russia military relations - though this is not to say that everything is peachy-keen: there are lingering resentments over (among other things) Russia's war in, and continued occupation of, Georgia.

Serdyukov has been busy since he was appointed to his position by (then) President Putin in 2007. Most recently he has been renegotiating military treaties and agreements with several nations outside of the U.S. - France and Israel being some of the main ones. He has also withdrawn Russia from the CFE (the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe - see Definitions below) until new terms are adopted, which should be "modern" and less heavy on Moscow. In another side to military negotiations, Russia has been getting recent attention for arms sales to both Kyrgystan (as part of a raise in rent charged for a Russian military base) and Syria.

But what's causing the biggest stir in Russia itself are Serdyukov's plans for inner reform, rather than international reform. The Defense Minister has declared it his goal to slim down the military chain of command - especially getting rid of the humongous officer corps, which has been around since the time of Peter the Great as a way for noblemen to serve without losing status. The troops themselves will feel the effects of the reform as well, in a new focus on mobility rather than overwhelming numbers as war tactics change. Many Russian men are watching their jobs and their traditions disappear, and they resent Serdyukov far more than any foreigner could. Though Serdyukov's goals are often paralleled with Gates' goals for the U.S., it is not hard to see who is going to have the harder time of it; for in the U.S., Gates has the precedent on his side, while in Russia Serdyukov will have to fight it all the way.



The Moscow Times' Summary of the Visit:
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/serdyukov-gates-rue-pain-of-military-reforms/416466.html

From the U.S. Side:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/15/world/europe/15military.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Serdyukov&st=cse

ITAR-TASS on the CFE:
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=15502290&PageNum=0